Monday, February 23, 2015

Because in S.C. it gets down to 16 degrees during the DAY. No one told me that! Hot chocolate and sweaters for the win!


Sister Jordan & Sister Burbank


Hello my dear family and friends!
I cant believe Im emailing already. Another week gone and so much work to be done! I think about you all often and know that you are in my prayers. I hope life is treating you kindly and if its hard, remember to look up and know that your Heavenly Father loves you SO much!
Okay so Week 5 in South Carolina... ( WHAT ) I cant believe Ive only been here 5 weeks. Its crazy. So this week is another one for the books. Faced another cockroach but Im alive... the febreeze bottle not so much... BUT we are okay on this end. My lovely companion sat there and laughed at me. I am petrified for the day when and if I ever face a cockroach that flies. Lets hope it never comes.
A side note that I never told you all. A good part of my area is the North Charleston weapons Station which a nuclear base. We are not allowed to proselyte on base. But basically most of the people we ever teach (members and non members) are geniuses. I feel like I cant even spell the word fish in front of them without messing up. But its amazing! 
Such a spiritual week! First we got a referral for a woman named Maryann. She is hilarious. We taught her with a member named Courtney who is such a good member missionary. We met these two on Tuesday. Well next we went on exchanges on Wednesday. I was blessed to serve for a day with Sister Burbank in Summerville. We then picked up a member who wanted to come out with us, turned out it was Courtney that I only met the day before! Tender mercy! I cant even describe the experience. I learned so many things that can help my area of Goose Creek. Sister Regen and I came back together and sought to do better and change some of the approaches we were making. Overall, amazing spiritual experience. We cannot wait to further teach Maryann with the help of Courtney.
We have been teaching Robin. I don't remember if I ever mentioned her but I love her so much. She meets with us once a week. Her husband died of cancer on Thanksgiving. so clearly she has had a rough life the past few months. But goodness she has such a faith in Jesus Christ and its amazing. She loves hearing about the gospel but is taking it slow. I have so much hope for her. I love teaching her and she strengthens my testimony every time we meet.
There is still so much work to do in South Carolina. I wish I had enough time to tell you all the details of my week because SO much happens. Good thing I take pictures of everything and write the details in my journal. I want you all to know this email, that God loves each one of you so much. He knows each one of you by name and is aware of everything you are going through. Be quick to remember Him in all things. He truly is our Maker. Blessed be His name.
I love you all and don't forget to serve and help someone today! God be With You Until we meet Again.
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Pray always,
Sister Jordan

Monday, February 16, 2015


Dear Family and Friends,
My my, how time flies when you are doing the Lords work. It doesn't even feel like another week has come again. There really haven't been any funny moments this week other than when I caught a lizard! They aren't even called lizards down here! They are called Skenks. They have the body of a lizard and the head of a snake. Two awesome things in one critter. I love critters and cant wait until it gets warmer to get my hands on more. 
Now to the work. This week was incredibly difficult. No one was home and so many people canceled there appointments with us. It gets so discouraging but Ive learned that your faith is truly weakened when you allow discouragement to stay. Luckily, I have Sister Regen who is over the top optimistic and it rubs off on me. We went forward and saw so many tender mercies. One of the days that we were getting discouraged, we were able to meet a referral named Ashley. She requested a Book of Mormon which is the keystone of our religion. So its amazing that we can teach her about such a powerful book, that through the Spirit of God, changes lives. 
All of the people we are preparing to be baptized have fallen off date. But its comforting to know that all things happen in the Lord's time. 
Our district leader told us that the only time we should be disappointed in how many lessons we taught or the things we did throughout the week is when we have given up. I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP. Being able to teach people that only Jesus Christ we can live with God again, is a blessing in itself. 
I apologize this letter is short this week but I love this gospel. While my area is in South Carolina and this is my area to preach the gospel. I invite all of you to learn more of why I am here teaching. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings blessings that are unfathomable. I know my Savior lives and I know that it is through His plan and our Faith in Him that we can be with Him again. 
I love you all and pray that in whatever challenges you face, you will turn to your Creator and ask for help.
PS. Have you ever seen a Sister missionary so happy to wash a car in a skirt?
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Pray always,
Sister Jordan

Monday, February 9, 2015

Sister Jordan & Sister Regen


Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been one for the books. I am sure you will all get a kick out what you will read. And I am here to tell you I have learned much about how to relieve stress. So on the mission, we have a diagram of stress zones: green, yellow, orange and red. Clearly we want to stay green. Defined on the mission, "A stressful emergency is when you very quickly go from green to red" Lets just say, I experienced this stressful emergency.
So Sister Regen and I get home from our day at 9pm right? Well before planning we both have to go to the bathroom. (We have two in our apartment) I go to the one in our room and she in the other one. I go into the bathroom I see this baby cockroach on the wall. (Keep in mind, we found one the size of a peanut earlier that day and Sister Regen killed it) and also this all happened in the matter of literally 10 seconds. So I  see this baby cockroach (very tiny) and I just breath and say "Its okay Sister Jordan, breath" I then proceed to look over in tub and see a little bit bigger of a baby cockroach. Again "Breath Sister Jordan, its a humbling experience" Something catches my eye in the mirror. RIGHT ABOVE MY HEAD is a cockroach the size of DVD disk. NO JOKE! I have never screamed so loud in my life. Nor have I ever ran out a room so fast. My companion later told me that after she heard me scream she thought "Sister Jordan is either getting murdered of she just found a cockroach." Guys, I have never experienced such a thing. GREEN TO RED IN 10 SECONDS! So we killed the cockroach and by we I mean Sister Regen. So anyways that why Im a gladiator because I cant do cockroaches and I am not ashamed of that fact in anyway. I have had nightmares of cockroaches every night since. So Im a little emotionally scarred. Moral of Story is, there is a reason why God puts missionaries in TWO, its so one of them can kill cockroaches while the other one ( ME) sits and cried and practically hyperventilates. Otherwise on to the work!
The work is moving. I had my first Zone Training Meeting and my companion and I did the training. (Im new and was asked to train experienced missionaries) It was so good though! President Turner was there as well so that was a little nerve racking but overall it was great. I got to see two elders from my district in the MTC so it was great to see some familiar faces. My first exchange is on Wednesday and Im a little nervous but Sister Regen has trained me well and I am confident in going about doing the Lords work for a day with another Sister missionary.
Lots a lessons learned this week. Many tender mercies. Its super difficult when you plan a whole day the night before, pray about it, feel good that this is supposed to be the plans for the next day and then have the day turn to nothing. People aren't interested or don't answer. Its gets very discouraging. But Ive learned this week how important faith and optimism are. Because of continuing on, though it looked gloomy, we were blessed with meeting some new people who were interested in what we have to share. The field really is white and ready to harvest.
I love this gospel so much. I pray my emails bring a sense of peace and assurance of God's love for His children. He can be your best friend, let Him. I love you all so much and I hope that when reading my emails, if you have any questions, ponder them and ask God. He really does answer prayers. I pray that if you have questions about the fullness of the gospel and missionary work, find the missionaries. They are everywhere. They want to help and teach. For we are representatives of God and we know with all our heart, might and strength that the message we share is true. God bless you all and God be with You until we Meet Again :)
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Pray always,
Sister Jordan

Monday, February 2, 2015

Hello my dear family and friends! I cant believe Im already emailing you again. This last week has gone by so incredibly fast. So my second week in South Carolina had been a lesson learned filled week. First off, I have a new hatred for football. GASP did I just say that?! Lets just say the superbowl last night made our teaching opportunities to a maximum of about 1. It was a lesson of patience and faith that the Lord would lead us to someone NOT watching the superbowl giving us the chance to teach His truth. That was definitely a lesson learned. Football and I not on the same page right now. The weather is rainy and humid. AGAIN NO ONE TOLD ME HUMIDITY MAKES YOU COLD. It doesn't even matter what Im wearing because I always have acoat on. Ive even borrowed my companions coat for the sakes of being warm. Oh well, a lesson to be learned in humility that at least I have clothes to wear right?!  Some one of the funny things that had happened this week... For all of you that don't know, lizards love me. Im like a lizard whisperer, I can hear them from miles away. Just kidding but for real Im a genius at being able to see lizards and catch them. So we went to this one house and Heavenly Father seriously blinded me from seeing the lizard. I heard movement and it was gone. Heavenly Father made it so I wasn't distracted. Lesson learned. What lesson? Not sure yet but I still want to catch a lizard. My companion and I also heard a story (Ill share after my mission) but super funny and now when things happen we just look at each other and say "I am Buckingham palace" and we just start laughing because no one gets it.
Okay on to serious stuff of why Im here, more of what Im doing that wonderful experiences that have happened.
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As stated in the scriptures, "The field is white, already to harvest." Ive never taken into account what this scripture means but being on the mission you learn that there are people out there ready to receive the gospel. Ive learned this week how the Lord has prepared me to be here at this time and in this place to teach the people of South Carolina. Ive seen how he has been preparing the hearts of these people to receive the gospel. But my, how there is so much work to be done.
We taught a middle aged woman this week who was so ready to receive the fullness of the gospel. She loves Jesus Christ so much and wants so badly to live with Him again. We taught her about the Restoration and she accepted to be baptized. If there is one thing Ive learned, its that we as missionaries don't convert people. We teach truth and then the Holy Ghost converts the hearts of men. The Holy Ghost is such a vital part to missionary work. He teaches what is really good and how people can know that the message we teach is true.
My dear companion and trainer is such an example. She has really shown me through her actions the kind of missionary I want to be. Sister Regen is so patient with me. She has taught me so much of how to connect everything I do to my investigators. She asked me the questions yesterday, "When your mission is over, what kind of missionary do you hope to see yourself as?" I answered, "A missionary that Heavenly Father is proud of." That's what I want out of my mission experience.
I always joked at home that I was called to FHE coordinator for two years by 4 different bishops but now I can truly see how much it prepared me for the work I am doing. The work is here and I am more than willing to do this work. The Lord has softened my heart from being here in the mission. I love this work so much. God be With you Until we Meet again.
Sister Jordan
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My time is up and other missionaries are waiting so Ill send pictures next week!!! I love you all :)
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Pray always,
Sister Jordan